Kee Borges Seeks Ethics Inquiry Into Hiring Practices Audit

Johnathon Henninger / Hartford Courant

Former Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee Borges sent a letter to the Hartford Ethics Commission seeking an inquiry into allegations that her son, Garret Borges, may have received preferential treatment when he was hired by the city.

Former Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee Borges sent a letter to the Hartford Ethics Commission seeking an inquiry into allegations that her son, Garret Borges, may have received preferential treatment when he was hired by the city. (Johnathon Henninger / Hartford Courant)

HARTFORD — Former Corporation Counsel Saundra Kee Borges, a subject of an audit report that raised concerns about possible nepotism at city hall, has asked an ethics panel to review the situation.

Kee Borges sent a letter Wednesday, one day after the audit report was released, to the Hartford Ethics Commission seeking an inquiry into allegations that her son, Garret Borges, may have received preferential treatment when he was hired by the city.

The audit found that Garret Borges, who was initially hired as a seasonal park worker in 2010 and became a full-time DPW employee in 2012, was chosen from 408 applications with passing scores. The average scores ranged from 70 to 85; Borges scored a 70. The audit found no information detailing why Borges' score separated him from other applicants and subsequently resulted in his hiring.

"I am requesting an opinion as to whether I violated the Code of Ethics, the Nepotism Policy or any other policies of the city as the report suggests, because the individuals named in the report were hired by the city at a time during or just after I held a high ranking position in the city," Kee Borges wrote in the letter.

Kee Borges also served as acting chief operating officer and acting human resources director while employed by the city over the last four years.

In addition to Kee Borges, the audit report also focused on the hiring of Deputy Fire Chief Terry Waller's nephew, and the hiring of former DPW Assistant Director Rhonda Moniz-Carroll's son. Waller is Kee Borges' fiancé.

Arthur Moniz was hired as a seasonal park worker in 2011 and, according to the audit, there was no documentation to support his hiring. He was hired by the DPW to a full-time job in 2013. Auditors found that Kee Borges approved Moniz's full-time employment.

Roderick Waller, the nephew of the deputy fire chief, was hired part-time as a parks employee in 2012 and as a full-time DPW employee in 2013. No documentation was available to support the hiring of Waller for either position, according to the report.

The hires were made before the city implemented a nepotism policy in November 2013.

In her letter, Kee Borges laid out detailed information about Garret Borges' and Roderick Waller's work history with the city. She also defended herself, saying that none of the relatives mentioned in the report "were supervised by me or worked in the same department(s) I worked in."

Kee Borges said she was not responsible for ensuring any of the relatives had proper documentation on file at the time of their hirings; that there is no system in place to determine how any of the people on the list of 408 were selected regardless of their scores; that she had no role in determining the score, rating, candidate certification, or selection for any of the relatives in question; and that she was aware of, but had no role in, negotiating agreements with a union concerning the hiring of seasonal employees.

"I was never the hiring or appointing authority for any of these employees," she wrote. "Any sign off by me as alleged was done solely in my role as Acting COO or Acting HR Director where my sign off on the Form A was required."

She added: "All of the positions (not individual or names) were existing or vacant, budgeted positions and were approved by the Position Review Committee (PRC) to be filled. I was one of 5 members of PRC during the periods in question."

Human resources management had noted in the audit report that Kee Borges' role in the hiring process was related to Mayor Pedro Segarra's push between 2011 and 2013 to better maintain and beautify city parks, and that she was instrumental in making sure that enough people were hired for the effort.

The audit concluded that it was unclear whether Borges, Moniz and Waller were the most-qualified candidates. It found that there was no evidence to show that Borges differentiated himself from 400 other applicants who scored the same or better on the test, and concluded it was more than likely that the relationship between Saundra Kee Borges and Moniz-Carroll contributed to the hiring of all three.

Additionally, Terry Waller's son, Terrence Waller, was hired by the city, first as a seasonal worker in 2008, then as a part-time Department of Health and Human Services employee in 2010 and finally as a full-time DPW employee in 2012, according to a memo from Henry Burgos, the city's human services director.

Burgos said that his department also found that Nertalia Borges, who is married to Garret Borges, was hired by the Department of Health and Human Services in February 2015. Burgos noted that during the application process Borges used her maiden name.

Segarra responded to Burgos's memo in writing Tuesday. He said that while the audit did not find clear violations of city policies, "I am very disappointed at the fact that employees did not consider at the very least the perception of such hires. It creates the appearance of a conflict of interest."

Segarra requested that the audit be expanded to include a review of other seasonal employees and an examination of the hiring process involving Nertalia Borges.

"I want to be clear that I will not tolerate the manipulation of our hiring process, whether perceived or real," Segarra said.

Luke Bronin, a Democrat challenging Segarra for his seat, on Wednesday criticized the hiring practices.

"Nearly every day now, we hear a new report about mismanagement or worse in city hall, and yesterday's news that Mayor Pedro Segarra's most senior aides have been treating city hall like a family slush fund may be the most powerful argument yet for why Hartford needs new leadership," he said in a statement. "The fact that Segarra says he created a nepotism policy in 2013 only makes this story worse, because it's one more example of government by press release, with no follow-through and no accountability. What's the point of having a nepotism policy if your chief legal advisor is among the chief violators of that policy?"